Telugu’s Cosmic Embrace!

We all love stories. So, let me start this with a short story: 

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In the picturesque countryside of County Cork, Ireland, Sean O’Malley lived a quiet, unassuming life as a farmer. From a young age, he had been captivated by the beauty of different languages and their potential to tell stories and create connections. However, what prompted Sean to study Telugu was a vivid childhood dream. In this dream, he heard the enchanting sounds of Telugu, a language he had never encountered before. Intrigued and moved by the dream, Sean felt a profound connection to the language, even though he couldn’t explain why. His journey into Telugu began. 

One serene evening, as he was gazing up at the starry Irish sky, he noticed a peculiar sight—a streak of light descending towards his backyard. Moments later, a small, unusual craft touched down on his property. Curiosity piqued, Sean approached cautiously. To his astonishment, the craft’s hatch opened, and out stepped a small, green, three-eyed extraterrestrial being named Xara. 

Despite the initial shock, Sean greeted the visitor with a friendly smile and a traditional Irish welcome. Xara’s three eyes gleamed with recognition. The alien pointed excitedly to the Telugu script in Sean’s journal. Xara had, through advanced technology, analyzed Earth’s languages and had recognized the Telugu script in Sean’s notebook, making them aware that Sean had a knowledge of Telugu. Sean, astonished by the alien’s knowledge of his Telugu studies, realized that his dream and this unexpected meeting were no mere coincidence. It was a connection that transcended worlds and defied understanding. To Sean’s surprise, when Xara spoke, the alien communicated in perfect Telugu. 

The farmer couldn’t believe his ears. Here was an extraterrestrial visitor who was fluent in the language he had been studying and practicing. Xara explained that on their planet, they had a deep fascination with Earth’s languages, and Telugu had always held a special place in their heart. They had been studying it for years in preparation for their journey to Earth, hoping to make contact with a human who shared their passion for the language. As Sean and Xara spent time together, they exchanged stories about their respective worlds. Xara described the wonders of interstellar travel and the beauty of their home planet, while Sean shared the magic of the Emerald Isle and the enchanting Irish folklore. 

One day, Sean had an idea. He decided to write a story about his extraordinary friendship with an alien who had a deep connection with Telugu. Combining his love for the language with Xara’s otherworldly experiences, Sean crafted a tale that showcased the universal power of language and friendship. What Sean didn’t know was that the story he had written was accessible through an advanced interplanetary internet system on Xara’s home planet. Xara’s friends and fellow enthusiasts of Earth languages had been monitoring their unique journey, and they were delighted to read Sean’s story.

The tale of the Irish farmer and the Telugu-speaking alien became an instant sensation on Xara’s world. It showcased the remarkable connection that could be forged through language and the unexpected friendships that could transcend even the boundaries of Earth. Xara’s friends marveled at the beauty of Earth’s diversity and the power of human-alien friendship.

Sean and Xara’s unique bond continued to thrive, becoming a symbol of unity and understanding not only on Earth but across the cosmos. Their friendship served as a testament to the idea that language, whether terrestrial or extraterrestrial, could bring even the most unlikely individuals together in a harmonious and meaningful way, transcending the boundaries of planets and galaxies.

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What do you think of this story? Did you like it? I found it cool (and amusing), albeit short and simplistic. You know what is cool, if you did not figure it out already? I did not write it. ChatGPT wrote it. Yes, the whole text (including the title) is produced by ChatGPT in response to my prompts, except this one sentence I added: “ His journey into Telugu began.” 

I started with “write the story of a Cree woman wanting to write in English”, “a Telugu man wanting to write in English”, and “an Irish man wanting to write in Telugu”. All the three stories ChatGPT generated were strikingly similar. As I started prompting ChatGPT with some more plot details, and asked a few questions about the text it generated, my story evolved in under ten minutes. What do you think, dear readers? Where is creative writing headed, if this is how I managed to write a story in a few minutes? Is it the beginning of the end of seeing fiction as a purely human endeavor? Comments are welcome! 

Artificial Intelligence systems have become quite good at producing fluent English text in the recent past, and there were some attempts to use them as storytellers both with good and bad results. As an AI researcher who also has some interest in creative writing, I naturally wanted to explore that intersection more closely, and I am going to try to do that here. 

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